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<title>Two Men of Blood by ChainSmokesPens</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29015556">Two Men of Blood</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChainSmokesPens/pseuds/ChainSmokesPens'>ChainSmokesPens</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Flash Fic, Poetry, Priests, Vampires</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 10:27:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>455</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29015556</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChainSmokesPens/pseuds/ChainSmokesPens</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: [WP] Two people discuss eternal life. One is a missionary; the other is a vampire. Neither knows of the other’s background.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Two Men of Blood</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Atop the hill where the apple trees are is a chapel that burned hollow.<br/>One evening, past dusk, a pair of men walked up.<br/>One from the west where the sun was setting,<br/>One from the east where the sun was gone.<br/>.<br/>The man from the east took a sip from his flask,<br/>Then he turned to the other and asked,<br/>“How much longer must we go on?<br/>How many years is too much for a man?<br/>You could walk this world from mountain to meadow,<br/>And still truth would slip through your hands.<br/>Who would think that’s what’s next would be better?<br/>What does a foolish mortal understand?<br/>Is the goal just to sit on a cloud with angels<br/>And play a lyre in an unending band?”<br/>.<br/>“That’s reductive,” said the man from the west,<br/>“Though I do understand your distress.<br/>The questions you raise aren’t uncommon,<br/>I find them troubling myself sometimes,<br/>And people approach me with them often.<br/>Truth is no man knows the shape of the kingdom,<br/>With which our fears of death may be softened.<br/>But regardless faith is a virtue of discipline,<br/>And one that we squander too often.”<br/>.<br/>The man from the east gave a solemn nod,<br/>Then picked up the ashen word of God.<br/>“I believed for a number of years I’d be saved,<br/>And in many ways, I still do wish to believe.<br/>But to live a day is to live a lifetime,<br/>And that knowledge offers me no reprieve.<br/>I admire those who can keep their faith,<br/>Because the alternative would be my envy.<br/>For the short days that man has been blessed with,<br/>Are a gift that won’t come to me.”<br/>.<br/>The western man reached in his robes for a tome,<br/>And from its pages grabbed a flask of his own.<br/>“You can’t beg mortal man to understand what will come,<br/>Any more than you can teach a rock to scheme.<br/>The visions we hear in our stories and legends,<br/>Are nothing but derivative dreams.<br/>The nature of our worship is opaque,<br/>And the blessed word’s just a bit long to read.<br/>But if our misguided visions are all that we have,<br/>Then why shouldn’t we choose to believe?”<br/>.<br/>Both men stood up from the tattered rug,<br/>And then embraced his brother in a hug.<br/>“I wish you the best as you wander your ways,<br/>And hope your days are rich with love.<br/>In my years I’ve learned there’s nothing more enriching,<br/>Than the presence of faith in the blood.”<br/>“I wish you a safe trip home to your family,<br/>And I bid you be careful of the mud.<br/>In my years I’ve learned there’s nothing more precious,<br/>Than diligence traced through the blood.”</p>
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